Fluke: Wehoan gaining momentum after primary

June 9, 2014

By Ryan Gierach, West Hollywood, California

Last week West Hollywood got a very pleasant surprise; a nationally renowned women’s social justice activist who made a feint for a seat in Congress and gave the State senate a shot in the June primary made the top two, meaning that she’ll be on November’s ballot.

Sandra Fluke with President Obama at a Colorado rally. Photo courtesy LA Times.

Today, the candidate for California State Senate in the 26th District, Sandra Fluke, lately graduated from Georgetown where she took on House Republicans over contraction and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), married and now living and practicing advocacy law in West Hollywood, pushed past a sizeable field including Betsy Butler, former assembly person, to a second place finish behind Ben Allen.

Today the candidate announced that she picked up the endorsement of CALIFORNIA LIST, a political network to elect Democratic women in California.

That endorsement comes on the heels of yesterday’s endorsement by U.S. Rep Karen Bass (D-CA) after, earlier this week, voters of the 26th California State Senate District voted for Ms. Fluke to move on to November’s general election.

Sandra Fluke’s experiences in 2011 left an indelible mark on her, she says.

Of the West Hollywood women’s rights activist’s run for the state senate, California List President and Founder, Bettina Duval said, “Sandra Fluke is a role model for women thinking about seeking office and California List could not be more proud to endorse her for California State Senate.

“Her effective advocacy and pragmatic approach to problem solving is exactly what Sacramento needs. We know that Sandra displays grace under pressure, tenacity and determination.

“Sandra never backs down from a fight- and we want Sandra to know that we’re going to be right there with her through Election Day!”

Fluke said, “I’m thrilled to have the support of California List. It is important for elected leaders to reflect the diversity of the people they represent, and frankly we’ve had far too few women in elected office in California.

“Despite being such a leading state on gender equality concerns, we’ve actually seen a recent sharp decline in the number of women in the California state legislature. I know we can do better and I appreciate California List’s work to make that happen.”

Ms. Fluke gained national fame when she testified to House Democrats alone about contraceptives and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Republicans refused to convene to listen to her thoughts, and Rush Limbaugh called her a “slut” because she supported the provision of contraceptives in the ACA.